With something drifting and something shifting, the earth still held the sky.

Thursday, January 07, 2016

494: Gifted

This year I have decided to use all the gifts that I have received over the years. I don't mean that metaphorically even. I mean actual tangible gifts that people in their sweet generosity have given me. This means all those clothes and make-up, the free e-books that they shared in hundreds, satchets of Arabic spices, etc.

So, here's what I have started on:

1. A body wash from Body Shop. It's white musk and so heady that I just swathe myself in that and after a bath, slip into cosy, cotton sheets and sleep the afternoon away. (An afternoon nap makes being out of work really worthwhile.)

2. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. It's a movie on Milkha Singh, the Indian athelete. Directed by Rakesh Mehra and starring Farhan Akhtar. I love that film. I love the song, 'Bhaag Milkha'. This song plays in the background as Milkha skips with weights tied to his ankles. He just keeps skipping as the camera moves all around him. And with every arc of the camera you can see Milkha Singh's body get transformed. I loved that film. This man had to leave home during partition and you can tell that he carries with him a deep sense of displacement. He joins the army and runs for the army. Does well. Carries his ghosts with him. And as skilled as he is, he can't outrun them. Finally, he runs in Pakistan. Interesting that a man who wanted to escape so much chose running as his path. Also interesting that he finally makes peace with his past in one of his final races in Pakistan. (Or at least that's what they show in the movie.) That's where he got the moniker 'The Flying Sikh' and maybe felt accepted in Pakistan, the home he ran from and couldn't g back to. There, he may have crossed a true 'finish line'.

3. A very beautiful watch my mother gifted me. It's a brand called Fossil and I love that name. After all, time is a fossilized concept. I love it. It's got dark grey strap and a huge dial that's got a rose gold hue. Usually I don't like to wear watches but this one I'm really liking.